Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mechanism for cooling equipment installed in the cockpit of an aircraft.
Description of the Related Art
In the cockpit of an aircraft, a display device which displays information required for flight is installed. A monitor unit of the display device is disposed inside the cockpit, and a control unit of the display device is disposed outside the cockpit.
To cool the display device which generates heat as it operates, a built-in fan of the display device discharges heat inside the display device to the outside of the casing, while an exhaust fan disposed outside the cockpit discharges air around the display device to the outside of the cockpit. The exhaust fan is operated to supply a part of air, which is discharged to the outside of the cockpit after air-conditioning the inside of the cockpit, as cooling air to the display device.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 6-8889 describes a device which distributes cooling air produced by an air-conditioning device to a plurality of pieces of electronic equipment.
The cooling mechanism as described above, which discharges air around the display device to the outside of the cockpit by the exhaust fan in order to supply exhaust of air-conditioning air inside the cockpit to the display device, loses its function if the exhaust fan breaks down due to failure.
Even if the built-in fan of the display device is operating at that time, since the exhaust fan is down, air discharged from the casing is immediately suctioned by the built-in fan (short-circuit), which results in a temperature rise of the display device due to heat retained around the device. It is necessary to avoid failure due to a temperature rise of the display device which displays information directly linked to safe flight.
Therefore, the present invention aims to secure a flow of air for cooling equipment fitted in the cockpit of an aircraft below its allowable temperature even if the mechanism for cooling the equipment malfunctions.